His Inner Circle
by Bretzeln
Summary: Sixth year at Hogwarts should have been as enchanting as the past five for Brielle Murphy, along with all of her Slytherin housemates. However, with the Dark Lord's pressing desire to train young purebloods in the art of dark magic, the year might not turn out as merry as planned. Cannon up to OoTP, BZ/OC.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys! I'm kind of new to writing fanfiction, so any praise/constructive criticism is appreciated. I'm pretty alright when it comes to grammar and spelling (I live in America, so except for the Oxford comma, I'll stick to American English spelling/grammar, but throw in a good amount of British slang in the dialogue), but I apologize for any abnormalities in sentence structure.**

**Disclaimer: Except for the few OCs throughout the story and perhaps a bit of the plot, all credit goes to the great J.K. Rowling.**

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**His Inner Circle: Chapter One**

Although the traditional opening feast should have been a jovial event for all of the professors and students at Hogwarts, an ominous cloud hung over the Slytherin table. While most students certainly relished in the joy of a fresh school year, since their families hadn't fully leagued with the darkest wizard of all time, a small handful knew about the imminent turmoil slowly building up in wizarding Britain.

When the final first year, a stocky boy who tripped over his laces twice while walking up to the stool, was sorted into Gryffindor, a raucous round of applause and cheers sounded from their table. He smiled in their direction, and managed to find a seat without killing himself on the way there.

Brielle Murphy, who was seated at the end of the Slytherin table closest to the grandeur double doors of the Great Hall, stared down at the carved wooden table. Her forearms resting together on the edge, she allowed her ash brown hair to shield her face so that she could tune everyone out and think. She was well aware that it was practically immoral to show such blatant apathy towards Dumbledore, who had stood up at the Professors' table and cast a sonorous on himself in order to start his address. It wasn't as if Snape would dock a serious amount of points from their house later tonight for it, anyway.

After a few moments, though, Brielle was torn from her mental sanctuary when she felt a bony elbow take a sharp jab at the left side of her ribcage.

"Ow!", she said. Brielle turned to glare at the boy, or rather, the young man who was sitting to her left. His chestnut mop of hair was a tad shorter than usual, indicating that he had cut it for the beginning of the school year. Despite his lean, almost lanky physique, it was his international flair and severity that made him one of the more respected Slytherin students.

He simply gestured towards the abundance of food piled on the long table. As usual, there was a wide variety of traditional British fare, ranging from black pudding to steak and kidney pie. With a slight blush, Brielle noticed that Dumbledore had long finished his annual speech, and the feast had apparently commenced ages ago since every plate except hers had at least something on it.

"You've been staring at your plate like a bloody fool for the last ten minutes", Sergey said, slightly raising one of his thick eyebrows. "You have to be hungry, especially since you refused to eat anything on the train."

Brielle let out a forced laugh, but winced at the pain in her side. She made a mental note to get him back sometime later, especially if it turned out to bruise.

"I was too surprised that there was anything left on the cart", she casually said, her nose wrinkled. "The Weasel usually jumps at any opportunity to devour anything edible that isn't the rotted rodent remains they eat in that shack of theirs."

Brielle began to dish roasted potatoes onto her plate, even though she truly didn't plan on eating them. The truth was that all the stress during the summer concerning the Dark Lord's plans for her, along with several other Slytherins had seriously hampered her appetite. She absolutely hated how gaunt her face had become, and was forced to cast a small disillusion charm so that nobody would notice. She didn't want to worry anybody, especially Sergey. In one of his letters, although he didn't actually say it due to the tightened owl security implemented by the useless Ministry, Brielle concluded that aurors searched his family home for dark artifacts, and found something worth locking his father up for. Even though as a Ivanovich, his father would easily be able to slide out of any serious convictions in his upcoming Wizengamot trial, she felt as if he already had enough on his plate.

"-and I stayed at Malfoy Manor for a whole month! Of course, we had to have escorts during the day, but at night, he _always_ came to my chambers", Pansy Parkinson said, her shrill voice piercing through the various conversations of the majority of the table. Millicent and Daphne, her drones, held interested, yet envious expressions. Although there were plenty of good looking candidates, it wasn't a secret that Draco Malfoy was one of, if not the most sought over student in the entire school. On multiple occasions, she'd run into him in very... compromising positions with various girls since third year, even that Gryffindor Patil sister the previous year. Since he wasn't at the feast, one could only assume that he was making use of the conveniently empty classrooms, but she knew better. Draco was one of the Dark Lord's vital pawns, and something told her he wouldn't have the time nor energy to fool around this year.

"The bint doesn't know what she's in for", said Lucy, Brielle's best friend since they were in diapers. "I bet her precious little Drakie is in the process of getting into some girl's knickers by now."

Personally, Brielle didn't have much of an issue with Pansy, but Lucy had despised the girl since third year, after Pansy tampered with a few of her hair potions. Apparently, she believed Lucy was 'pining' over Draco, which was very untrue. Her hair was Hufflepuff yellow for a whole week. Since then, their constant verbal spars over trivial matters actually made History of Magic tolerable at times.

"Honestly, I don't know what he sees in her", Brielle said, raising an eyebrow as Pansy and co. began to discuss one of her midnight rendezvous, in vivid detail despite the food on everyone's plates. "She's a bit... obsessed with him, yeah?"

"A bit?", Sergey asked with a snort. "That must be the understatement of the year. On the train, she was practically dry humping him in front of everybody, with no shame at all. I thought I was in a cheap muggle brothel or something."

Lucy grinned, showing off her slightly crooked front teeth. "I second that. Don't you remember them earlier today? The whole thing was bloody disgusting, if you ask me. I'm pretty sure she sampled his breakfast, with how far her tongue was down his throat."

Brielle couldn't recall that particular moment on the long train ride, but she shuddered. Lucy's exaggeration planted an unpleasant image into her head of Pansy and Draco sucking face.

Sergey shook his head. "Of course Brielle didn't notice them nearly shagging. She was out of it for practically the entire journey."

"Yeah, I noticed also. Are you sure everything's alright?", Lucy asked, the worry clear in her voice. She frowned, and gently touched her shoulder in a comforting manner.

Brielle sighed, and after glancing around to make sure nobody was particularly paying attention to them, she lower her voice. "I'm fine. My father's friends have been hanging out a lot over the summer, though", she whispered, looking down.

Since neither of them replied, she knew her words had been understood. Brielle was fortunate to have friends like Lucy and Sergey, since trustworthiness didn't usually go hand-in-hand with Slytherin. However, when it came to matters concerning her becoming a Death Eater, she felt alone. Even though Sergey's father was well accustomed with the Dark Lord, he was merely used for connections into Russia and Eastern Europe, and he saw no reason to induct him into his inner circle. As for Lucy, her family refused to join the Dark Lord's ranks. Her parents claimed to be halfbloods even though they were both purebloods. Although it was true that Lucy had hosted her a few times during the summer on days when the Murphy Estate would host a Death Eater gathering and Brielle's presence wasn't requested, neither of her friends would ever truly experience what she was going through.

Suddenly, a wave of anxiety washed over Brielle. She knew she had to leave the Great Hall before she had a mental breakdown and embarrassed not just herself, but her family and house on the first day of sixth year.

She shot up out of her seat, nearly overturning her untouched plate in the process. A few people turned to see what the small commotion was about, but went back to their conversations about how Slytherin would win the Quidditch Cup this year, or the trendy beauty tips featured in the newest edition of Witch's Weekly.

"Er... I'm not feeling too well. The train ride really sapped my energy, so I think I'll be heading down to the dungeons now." She turned to Sergey, since he was a prefect. "What's the password?"

"Prestige", he said, tilting his head in concern. "But are you sure you don't want to stay for a little longer? Pudding hasn't even come out yet, and I can recall you saying that Hogwarts' chocolate eclairs are simply orgasmic."

Brielle gave him a polite smile, and shook her head. "There's always dinner tomorrow. I'll see you guys later." She nodded towards her friends. "Enjoy the rest of the feast."

With a fleeting glance, she escaped from the confines of the Great Hall.

Although not many students noted her abrupt leave, a pair of deep hazel eyes from the other end of the table curiously watched Brielle flee.

**A/N: There's Chapter 1. Please, any and all reviews (expect for flames) are welcome! I won't say that I need _x_ number of reviews for the next update, but it should be here in a week or so.**

**Thanks,**

**~Bretzeln**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Most of this is the work of J.K. Rowling, not me.**

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**His Inner Circle: Chapter Two**

The first few weeks of sixth year passed by in its usual fashion. As an older student, she had the ability to choose her own electives. This year she chose Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. She wasn't much of an animal fan, nor did she believe in the asinine concept of fortune telling, so Care of Magical Creatures and Divination were out. Muggle Studies was completely out of the question, so her best options were the two she selected.

Although it wasn't an exam year for Brielle, she could already feel her professors' pressuring them to be ready for the N.E.W.T.s, which she wasn't even positive that she'd be at school to take due to the Dark Lord's confidential plan.

On one particular evening before dinner, Brielle and Lucy were working on a foot long Potions essay in the library. They were seated in the far corner, which was closest to the books written on the history of various potions. Sergey would have joined them, but he had N.E.W.T. Alchemy. It was arguably the toughest course Hogwarts had to offer, but since it was a required course in order to apply for a Curse Breaker, he had to persevere through the mountains of essays and assignments.

"'Elle, can you flip to page forty eight and help me make sense of the second paragraph?", Lucy asked in a hushed tone. Her robes were disheveled from the heavy amount of reading they'd been doing, but Lucy had managed to keep her blonde curls in place with a special potion she had purchased in Hogsmeade the previous weekend.

Brielle found the paragraph in question, and absentmindedly chewed the end of her quill as she tried to analyze it. Although she was far from a Vincent Crabbe when it came to keeping her marks up, Potions wasn't exactly her best subject.

"Well, in the last chapter, it mentioned that in 1386, Pietas the Fuller coined the idea of using mashed glowbeetle thoraces in Veritaserum instead of powdered narwhal horns. Perhaps the reason that the change occurred was due to a sharp narwhal population decrease at the time?", she said with a shrug.

Lucy sighed, and glanced down at both of their blank pieces of parchment. Part of Professor Snape's N.E.W.T. prep was an essay twice a week, and the latest one had to thoroughly explain why some minor change occurred in the ingredient list of Veritaserum.

"It's a possibility", she finally said, placing her quill back into its ink pot for the millionth time. "But keep in mind that in the fourteenth century, the Age of Natural Empowerment took place. I thought the natural resources and organisms on Earth were at an all time high back then?"

As Brielle was about to answer, she heard a deep voice from behind her chair laugh. A robed arm reached over her shoulder and turned to page one fifty four, which was headed 'The History of the Alihotsy Draught'.

"In 1382, after Thelonius the Great took over the Wizarding Empire, he outlawed the use of the narwhal for medicinal purposes", the familiar voice explained. "Since this also made it illegal to use the horn powder in potions of any kind, a substitution had to be utilized. Glowbeetles were plentiful at the time, and the production process was much simpler than grinding narwhal horns. Therefore, the reason narwhal horns became omitted from Veritaserum was due to the fact that its use was illegal."

Brielle's eyes widened a bit, and she turned around in her chair to find out of the speaker matched who she believed it was. She turned out to be correct, and her face of surprise quickly twisted into a deep scowl.

It was Adrian Pucey.

They didn't get along very well, mainly because Adrian and Sergey had some type of rivalry. He made it his lifelong ambition to pester Brielle and Lucy whenever he had the opportunity.

Adrian straightened his tie, even though it was fine the way it was before. After a few moments of silence, he chuckled. "I know you birds fancy me, but do you plan on continuing to stare at me without even saying thanks?", he asked.

Brielle could feel the angry blush creeping up her neck and cheeks. The Slytherin in her became upset that Adrian had one-upped her, and was determined to regain composure.

"I'm trying to figure out why you're not lurking in some dark corner or helping Malfoy bully first years", she calmly said. Brielle turned back around in her seat and placed her quill back into the pot, managing not to shatter it. Lucy had not responded since she was still paraphrasing and scribbling down Adrian's summary.

"Sorry to dampen your mood, Murphy, but Blaise was injured at Quidditch practice earlier today. I know how much you adore him, so I told Professor McGonagall that you'd be honored to pass through the infirmary after dinner and help the bloke out with his N.E.W.T. Transfiguration assignment due tomorrow. Hope you don't mind."

Brielle furrowed her eyebrows. "Why me? I'm not even taking N.E.W.T. Transfiguration."

He walked around the thick table Brielle and Lucy had stacked books on, and tossed Lucy's rucksack onto the ground so he could sit in the third chair. "I know, but since everybody else in our class declined, she asked us if anybody in one of the dunce classes may want to do it. Luckily, I volunteered you. Have fun."

Lucy rolled her eyes, and pointed her wand at her bag. In a few moments, the spilled contents moved back to their place, except for her old copy of 'The Monster Book of Monsters', which would have taken a significant chunk of Adrian's head off if it wasn't for the charmed leather strap keeping it shut.

"Was that really necessary?", she asked after her rucksack made its way over to her lap. "Considering that there are hundreds of empty chairs in the bloody library?"

It was true. Wednesday evenings apparently weren't popular homework times, since only a handful of students were there. She had counted three Slytherins, now that they unfortunately were graced with the presence of King Git, seven Ravenclaws, and two Hufflepuffs. Hermione Granger was probably in some secluded area of the library, but Brielle had neglected to count her as a Gryffindor since she practically lived in there.

"Lucy, don't hold the boy up to such high standards", Brielle said, stowing her stationery and year six Potions primer into her black backpack. She decided that she would write the essay in the girls' dorms later that night, since she refused to give Adrian the pleasure. "His head is far too deep in his arse for him to tell his left from his right."

Although she wasn't looking up, Brielle could feel the cold smirk most likely plastered onto his face. "Obviously Murphy, I can do much more than that since I happened to get an Outstanding on my Potions O.W.L. last year, while you barely made an Exceeds Expectations. But that's none of my business."

"Alright Pucey, if your sole purpose of coming here was to belittle Brielle and I, I'm gravely sorry to tell you that we have better places to be", Lucy said. She rose from her chair and charmed the thick books to fly back to the shelves in their proper locations. "Let's get out of here."

Brielle seriously wanted to hex that triumphant smirk off of Adrian's face, but she refrained from doing so after Lucy gave her a warning look. Instead, she shook her head and followed her on our of the library.

"Don't forget about Blaise's essay", Brielle heard him call after them.

She rolled her eyes. "Bugger off", she muttered, even though he was well out of hearing range.

Even though she was exhausted after dinner and only wished to finish up her Potions assignment and get some rest, Brielle had no choice but to head to the infirmary to help out Blaise. Her original plan was to act as if her and Lucy's encounter with Adrian had never taken place, but Professor McGonagall had caught her before she could make it to the dungeons that evening. She thanked her for being so 'considerate' by 'generously using her leisure time to assist those in need.'

So while Lucy, Sergey, and the rest of their house were relaxing in their common room, Brielle was going to be forced to write Blaise's essay for him, even though she wouldn't consider him to be one of her friends.

When she entered the infirmary at half past nine, Madame Pomfrey nodded to her and gestured towards one of the beds near the window.

"Mr. Zabini is over there. He has a few shattered bones in both of his legs and hands, which is the reason he needs some help with his homework", she explained to Brielle.

She just nodded and ran one of her hands through her hair, adjusting the forest green bow she wore. "All right. Thanks for letting me know."

Blaise's hands and legs were encased in some type of casting material, presumably so that they would heal in the right position. An empty vial rested on the bedside table, along with his wand and backpack.

His sullen hazel eyes stared into her tired green ones for what felt like centuries. Even though he seemed bored of the shocking white walls he'd been staring at all day, Blaise's sharp jawline still managed to give him somewhat of a regal look. Finally, Brielle quickly broke their eye contact and conjured a chair for herself.

"Err... Good evening Zabini", she said, tracing the age lines on the polished wooden desk. "McGonagall send me up here to-"

"I know why you're here", Blaise said, cutting her off. It wasn't necessarily done in a rude manner, but she could tell that he wanted to get to business as soon as possible, which was fine by her.

"Okay then", she said. She reached into her backpack and pulled out one of the N.E.W.T. textbooks she's brought along.

"Firstly, what were you supposed to be writing about?", Brielle asked, reaching towards the corner of the desk to pick up his quill. It had a golden barrel with white accents, and his initials were carved near the top. Since there was no ink, she assumed it could write without it.

"The process of transfiguring a fig tree into a bezoar, in detail", he said, shifting a little. He was still in uniform, as that was mandatory for infirmary patients, although he didn't have to wear robes. "I already know what the answer is, but you can help me draft it a bit before we write."

Brielle nodded. Although she wasn't in the highest Transfiguration class, she did have a general idea on how the process took place. "I'm ready whenever you are", she said, gently pressing the tip of the quill against the parchment.

The next two hours consisted of the two Slytherins discussing the assignment, Brielle writing things down and crossing entire paragraphs out in her slightly slanted script, and a few disagreements on facts here and there. During one particular debate, Brielle had to cast a charm around them that created an invisible, soundproof dome around Blaise's bed and the desk so they wouldn't wake the other students.

When they had finished the final draft of the essay, it was nearly midnight. After Blaise gave it a once over, Brielle placed it into his backpack, which was now resting at the foot of his bed.

"Thanks", he said as she stood up and turned towards the door. "Are... you'll be all right walking to the dungeons on your own?"

Brielle didn't know whether to laugh and be touched by or snort at his customary Pureblood chivalry, so she did neither.

"What are you going to do if I say no? Hobble all the way down to the dungeons with me, holding your wand in your teeth if anyone tries to attack me?"

"Good point", he said, letting out a dry laugh. "But again, thank you for the help. I'd say see you tomorrow, but I'm not exactly sure on when I'll get out of here."

She nodded, but just as she was about to leave, he cleared his throat. Brielle turned around and gave Blaise a questioning glance.

"I like the bow in your hair", he simply said. He turned away and faced the wall without waiting for any kind of reply.

Brielle quickly left. Luckily, he looked away in time for him to miss the pink tinge to her cheeks as a result of his unexpected compliment.

**A/N: There's Chapter 2. I should probably look into creating a cover image for this, but I've been busy lately. If anybody has any ideas feel free to PM me!**

**Thanks for reading,**

**~Bretzeln**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling is superior.**

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**His Inner Circle: Chapter Three**

The next day, Brielle had to wake up earlier than usual so she could get her forgotten bracelet from the infirmary. It was only when she arrived at the dungeons the previous night that she realized she left her tennis bracelet there. Normally she rarely removed it, but she had been writing so much that it became uncomfortable to wear. She hated having to apply her beauty potions a full hour before breakfast but she needed the time to persuade Madame Pomfrey to allow her to 'disrupt an ill patient's valuable sleep'.

When she was finally allowed back inside, Brielle quickly made her way over to Blaise's cot. She was surprised to see that he was awake, and his hands weren't in the casts anymore. Whatever potion he was taking worked quickly. An almost finished cup of tea rested on his bedside table, and he was wholly focused on the hardcover book in his lap. She almost felt bad for having to bother him.

"Zabini", Brielle finally managed to say.

Slowly, he lifted his head up and looked at her. His eyes studied her for a while, lingering on her hair. Like yesterday, she wore the green bow in her hair, but Brielle would never admit, even to herself, that she did it because Blaise liked it.

"Murphy", he said back, nodding in greeting. "I suppose you're back for your bracelet."

Without waiting for a reply, he reached into his trouser pocket and produced the tennis bracelet. Its diamonds glittered in the morning sun flowing through the windows, and an icy chill went through her as she thought about what she would do if it went missing.

"I couldn't leave it on the desk, since it could have been nicked by some sticky third years in the middle of the night", he explained.

Brielle smiled a little. She reached over him in order to retrieve it from his right hand. "Thanks. Merlin knows what my mother would say if-"

"Who said I ever planned on giving it back?", Blaise asked with a smirk. He moved his hand out of her reach, so she would either have to crawl over him or walk around the bed to get it.

All traces of gratitude left her face, and she narrowed her eyes at him. Why wouldn't he want to give it back? The tennis bracelet had been in her mother's family for centuries, so it was quite important to her.

"Zabini, that is a Chevalier family relic. Surely you can show some respect?", Brielle said in a sour tone. "Just give it back, and I'll be on my way."

Blaise chuckled. He marked his place in his book and placed it on the table. "My apologies, Murphy. I was only joking with you. I will give it back to you on one condition."

"What?", she asked through her clenched teeth. He was following the quintessential Slytherin decree of never doing 'favors' unless there was some type of personal benefit involved.

"Kiss me", he said, the smirk on his face growing by the second.

Brielle rolled her eyes at his farcical request. Although kissing Blaise Zabini wasn't exactly on the list of things she wanted to do, she didn't have anything against it, especially since he would give her back the bracelet. At least she wouldn't run the risk of catching spattergroit since it wasn't Draco.

"Fine", she said, running a hand through her hair. She was secretly glad she'd taken the time to do her makeup properly this morning. "One kiss, and you give it back."

"Deal", Blaise mumbled. His eyes were trained on her lips, and she resisted the urge to blush.

After looking over her shoulder to make sure Madame Pomfrey was still busy with paperwork in her office, Brielle sighed and leaned in, slightly closing her eyes. When her lips met his, she was surprised at how soft they were. Sure, she had kissed her fair share of boys during her six years at Hogwarts, but Blaise was definitely up there in her list of best kissers.

Their lips moved in tandem for a few more seconds before Brielle pulled away. As she straightened herself out, she felt a twinge of reluctance, but ignored it. She came here for a reason, and she wasn't going to allow Blaise's soft lips to sidetrack her.

"My bracelet?", Brielle asked as she adjusted her robes.

Blaise stared at her for a few moments before picking it up from beside him. Instead of placing the bracelet into her waiting palm, he sat up a bit and linked it around her wrist. As it recognized the Chevalier in her, she felt the magic course through her. The emptiness Brielle felt when she woke up slowly faded away.

"Tell me more about it", he said, breaking the silence. "You said it's an artifact that runs down your mother's side?"

Brielle ran her thumb over the row of diamonds, and nodded. "Yes. It isn't goblin made, but a few centuries ago a gifted jeweler called Alphonse Jean Pierre crafted it for one of my ancestors in France. It's been in my mother's family ever since."

"I didn't know you had French in you", he said, settling back down on the bed.

She furrowed her eyebrows, trying to figure out why he was so interested in her parentage all of a sudden, but concluded it to be plain curiosity. "My mother isn't ethnically French, but a Norman. We have a house in the North, but whenever we go to France on holiday we usually stay at my grandparent's villa."

"That must be why you're such a good kisser", Blaise casually said.

Brielle felt her ears turn pink at his compliment. Why on Earth did she always seem to blush whenever he said things to her?

"Er, thanks. You're not so bad yourself. Better than most of the boys I've kissed, anyway."

He raised a eyebrow. "Oh really? Pray tell, who scored more than I did?"

Brielle ignored the implied double meaning of his words, and shrugged. "I don't kiss and tell, Zabini."

He laughed softly, and looked down at his silver watch. "What a shame. It's getting to seven, so you should probably start heading over to breakfast. Do me a favor and hex Marcus for me, though. His daft arse was the reason I fell and I haven't gotten around to jinxing him yet."

"Sure thing", Brielle said with a grin, although she didn't plan on doing so. She hated getting involved in other people's issues, and even though he was an amazing kisser, Blaise wouldn't be an exception.

"Severus, do you know why I called you here today?", Lord Voldemort asked. They were currently in the drawing room of the grand Malfoy Manor, located in the hilly area of Wiltshire, England. It was his new throne room of sorts, and also the primary base of the Death Eaters from now on.

Severus shook his head. "No, my Lord", he said. Truthfully, he had no idea why the Dark Lord had requested for his presence during the school year. He had rushed to cancel the rest of his classes for the day, and inform Dumbledore that he had run out of an important potion ingredient and had to go restock from an old friend. Although the headmaster was suspicious at first, he eventually bought Severus's story and allowed him to leave the castle.

"I am sure you know of my plans to capture the Potter boy, dispose of Dumbledore and take control of Hogwarts", he said, rubbing his pale, scaly hands together.

"Yes, my Lord", Severus said. He was confused about where this conversation was going.

"You also know that since unfortunately I am unable to waltz into the school and kill him on the spot, I need a few of his classmates to assist me", he said.

"Yes, my Lord", Severus repeated. "Mr. Malfoy, Miss Murphy, the young Miss Greengrass and Mr. Zabini, if I can remember correctly."

"Precisely. Now that my plan has been formulated, I need to meet with them as soon as possible. Since it would raise too much suspicion for them to come to England in the middle of term, I will be in Hogsmeade in exactly two weeks. Clear out one of the cottages far away from the main street and have the students meet me there by three. Inform them that failure to do so will end in a very painful death."

Severus heard Nagini hiss somewhere under the Dark Lord's chair. She obviously knew that death translated into a very delicious banquet for her.

He swallowed and nodded. "Yes, my Lord. I assure you they will all meet you there on time. Is that all?"

Lord Voldemort slowly nodded. "Yes, I believe that is it. Except if you have any new information on Dumbledore and his useless organization?"

"No, my Lord. There isn't anything new, not that I have detected. But I will contact you immediately if I find out anything."

He waved his hand dismissively. "Very well. You can leave now. Remember Severus, they must be there on time or their precious, pure blood in on your hands."

**A/N: I know it's on the short side, but there's chapter three. Reviews help me to improve my writing, so they are always welcome! **

**Thanks,**

**~Bretzeln**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: To the Guest that reviewed about the Norman/French part in Chapter Three: In history class, I learned that the original settlers of Normandy, France were the Normans, or the descendants of Norse Vikings who were given land in France. Sorry if I confused you a little there!**

**Disclaimer: This world belongs to J.K. Rowling, not me.**

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His Inner Circle: Chapter Four

Blaise was released from the infirmary three days after the bracelet incident, probably since the injuries in his legs were more serious than in his hands. Although they occasionally had conversations in the Great Hall and the dungeons, Brielle often found herself giving him general answers each time like she used to do before. Neither of them ever mentioned the kiss they shared. On her part, she was just nervous about bringing it up because Blaise probably thought it was meaningless. Brielle knew that a kiss wouldn't have much of an effect on their acquaintanceship, but a tiny, unreasonable part of her brain held some hope.

Brielle, along with a few other Slytherins were standing around one of the tables in the dungeons. Even though the charmed green flames were cackling in the front of the room, the common room still had an airy chill running through it. Sergey and Adrian occupied the two plush chairs opposite of each other. Their eyes were focused on the old magical chessboard resting on the table between them. While Adrian was slightly hunched over the board, a form of posture that would make any traditional Pureblood grandmother cringe, Sergey sat back in the chair with a more relaxed pose.

Although Adrian had captured more pieces than Sergey, Brielle knew that the objective of chess was to put your opponent's king into checkmate. The number of captured pieces was of no importance. However, the airheads on 'Team Adrian' obviously didn't know this since they believed Adrian was winning.

After Sergey had managed to capture one of Adrian's bishops with his knight, Brielle felt somebody tap her shoulder. She turned around to see a girl she recognized to be Astoria Greengrass looking at her. Although she didn't know her very well, it was easy to tell that she and Daphne were polar opposites. Astoria was much quieter and reserved. She also knew that the Dark Lord had picked her for his plan, since Brielle saw her standing nervously next to Ambrosius Greengrass at the last meeting she had attended. At first, she wondered why Astoria had been chosen over her older sister, but it was clear to see that the Dark Lord wouldn't accept Daphne gossiping about the Death Eaters.

"Er... do you mind if I speak to you about something upstairs?", Astoria asked. She anxiously rubbed her scarfed neck.

Brielle furrowed her eyebrows at the fourth year. "Sure", she said. "Lead the way."

She scanned the room for Lucy, and saw her occupying a corner with one of the seventh year boys. Rolling her eyes, she made a mental note to interrogate her about it later and followed Astoria upstairs to the fourth year girls' dorms. Fortunately, nobody was there to overhear whatever Astoria had to tell her. After they entered, Brielle took the liberty to lock the door and cast a privacy charm around them just in case.

"What is it?", she asked, looking at her expectantly.

Astoria sighed and sat on what Brielle assumed was her four poster. "In a week, the Dark Lord is coming to Hogsmeade. He wants to meet with us at 312 Gargoyle Lane at three dot, which is about five blocks away from the main street."

A long period of silence passed within their bubble. Brielle was at a loss of words. She knew that the Dark Lord was plotting an attack on Hogwarts, but she hadn't heard anything about it since August. With all the distractions of school the entire situation had practically slipped her mind.

"Who told you this?", she asked in a hushed tone despite the charm surrounding them.

"Professor Snape", Astoria simply said. "I've already informed Draco and Blaise. You were the only person left."

Brielle nodded. "All right, thanks for telling me. I'll see you there, I guess."

"Remember", Astoria said in a firm tone. "Three P.M. sharp. Snape emphasized that we cannot be a second late, and I'd rather not experience what happens to people who keep the Dark Lord waiting."

Brielle removed the charm around them and quickly left the dorm. Although she could hear a round of applause coming from the common room, which indicated there was a victor, she couldn't bring herself to return downstairs. The new information plagued her mind. She was hoping that it was just another meeting, and not a 'training camp' where they'd be required to torture muggles. Perhaps she wasn't their biggest fan, but Brielle didn't consider herself to be a sadist, either.

She shuddered as a memory of a past meeting featuring the infamous Bellatrix Lestrange and an unfortunate muggle politician crossed her mind. Although she was seen as the prime example of a powerful female Death Eater, Brielle could never imagine herself becoming like Bellatrix.

"All right?", she heard from the bottom of the staircase, which served as neutral ground between the boys' and girls' dorms. Even though Slytherin girls had the ability to enter the boys' dorms and vice versa, it was seen as highly improper in Pureblood culture. Not even Pansy would enter the boys' dorms, even if she knew Draco was waiting starkers for her. Empty classrooms and abandoned corridors were acceptable, but their sleeping quarters were not.

She glanced down the staircase. In the dim torch light, she could make out the tanned, stoic face of Blaise Zabini.

"Yes, I'm fine", she replied. She turned away from him and started towards the sixth years' dorm so she could contemplate over the upcoming meeting in peace.

Before she could open the door, she heard his trainers march up the stairs and stop right behind her. Brielle felt the warmth radiating from his chest, and an involuntary shiver ran up her spine. She mentally cursed Salazar Slytherin for establishing his headquarters within the gelid Black Lake, of all places.

"Are you sure? It's Saturday night, and barely six. You're the only one up here. Everybody else is enjoying themselves downstairs", he softly said.

Brielle had to resist the pressing urge to open the door and shut it in his face. Now wasn't the time for Blaise to be poking his nose into her business, even if it did involve him.

"I can't recall seeing Malfoy down there", she said, squeezing the silver doorknob.

Blaise laughed. It was then when she noticed he had gotten closer to her since she swore she could feel his breath against the back of her neck.

"This is Draco we're talking about. Although everyone assumes he's always busy shagging the nonexistent brains out of a new girl each week, he's preparing for the... grand party."

She laughed too, but mostly towards the euphemism he used to discreetly mention the pending attack on Hogwarts. It could be seen as a grandeur soiree of sorts if you were as mad as Bellatrix Lestrange.

"I already assumed that. I suppose Astoria told you two the news?", Brielle asked.

"Of course. I took it better than he did, though. Bloke's a bloody train wreck from what I've seen. Merlin knows what he's like when he's alone."

It was hard for her to imagine the high and mighty Draco Malfoy having a mental breakdown, but she was sure he had them. She had hers during the summer, but it had been a while since the last one. Draco had the greatest responsibility out of the four of them, but Brielle wasn't exactly sure what his mission consisted of. She was curious, but she knew Blaise wouldn't tell her a secret that wasn't his to tell.

"You can't exactly blame him. Anyways, I'm off to bed now. See you at breakfast", she said, twisting the doorknob.

As she was about to push the door open, one of Blaise's lithe arms snuck around her waist. Brielle gasped at his sudden movement and reflexively let go of the doorknob to grab his forearm with both of her hands.

"Zabini", she said, her voice in a higher octave than usual, "What... What are you doing?"

Blaise pulled her snugly against him, and she could feel a few of the contours of his chest against her back, despite the fact that they were both clad in their Slytherin jumpers.

"Nothing", he simply said. "I just want to know why you've been acting so... distant towards me, for lack of a better word."

"I haven't been acting 'distant' towards you", Brielle muttered, digging her nails into his arm when his deft fingers began to trace patterns on her side. He let out a tiny hiss, and although he got the hint and kept his hand still, Blaise didn't let go of her.

"You barely talk to me", he said. "And if you do, you only want to discuss trivial matters, like the weather during the last Quidditch match or the pack of Howlers Adrian received in the post from his grandfather."

"Well it's not like we're best mates, so does it really matter? Except for the... party, the only mutuality we genuinely share is our house", Brielle said. She turned around to face him, and Blaise resorted to placing his hands on either side of her head, caging her between him and the wall. She was only around three inches shorter than him, so she imagined it wasn't that difficult for him to do.

"True", he said. "But if you haven't noticed, Murphy, I'd like to get to know you more. Your perverseness is making it hard for me to do so."

"You git, I am not be-", Brielle said in a scalding tone, but the rest of her sentence dissolved in her throat when Blaise leaned in and slowly skimmed the tip of his nose along her collarbone, which was slightly unveiled by her green jumper. He moved up Brielle's neck and stopped when his lips were level with her ear.

"If you don't mind, I think I'm going to kiss you now. I haven't had my turn yet", Blaise said, softly chuckling.

"N..no, not at all", Brielle quickly said, smiling a little.

Just as their lips were about to meet, a booming voice came from the common room. "Blaise!", a voice she immediately recognized to be Adrian's said. "Oi, what's taking you so long? We've already started without you, mate."

Blaise sighed. Her heart skipped a beat when he gently kissed to corner of her mouth instead and stepped away.

"Forgive me", he murmured. "I forgot that I bet a handful of galleons in a round of Exploding Snap earlier."

"It's fine", Brielle said. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and let go of a handful of his jumper she didn't realize she was holding. "You'd better go before he comes up here."

Blaise nodded, and within a few seconds he slipped back downstairs.

The second he left, Brielle opened the door to the sixth years' dorm and collapsed onto her four poster. That had elevated quite fast. She tried and failed to comprehend what was going on between her and Blaise Zabini. At the beginning of term, they had rarely spoken to each other. It was almost November now, and not five minutes ago was she about to snog him in the dorm corridor. His actions had made it very clear to her that he wanted to be a bit more than friends. Although Blaise made her heart race and her legs feel like they'd been hit with a Jelly-Legs Jinx, Brielle wasn't exactly sure what she wanted from him. Besides, her primary focus this year had to be cooperating with the Dark Lord. She imagined he wouldn't be pleased if she kept fooling around with a boy she believed she was attracted to.

Even so, she fell asleep despising Adrian Pucey a tad more than she had before.

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, but the next few chapters might be a little darker. Reviews help me out a lot, so if you can, please leave one for me!**

**Thanks for Reading,**

**~Bretzeln**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Please note that for the sake of the story I'll be keeping Snape as the potions master and Slughorn as the DADA professor.**

**Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling is queen.**

* * *

His Inner Circle: Chapter Five

On the day of the Hogsmeade trip, Brielle felt more anxious that she ever was at any point of her life. She truly didn't know what to expect, but she knew the Dark Lord wasn't rounding them up for tea and cucumber sandwiches.

At breakfast, which was held much later than usual since it was the weekend, she had to force down some pumpkin juice and toast so she wouldn't start the day off with an empty stomach. As usual, her friends were seated by her.

"So Brielle, what are you doing today?", Sergey asked. "I'm headed to Spintwitches since they've released the World Cup gear line for Team Scotland."

She fiddled with her sleeve. Brielle wasn't sure if she was allowed to tell her friends about the meeting in Hogsmeade, so she decided to play on the safe side and not tell either of them about the conversation she had with Astoria the previous week. Even though she could trust the two of them with anything, she knew Sergey and Lucy's lives would be in danger if something accidentally slipped out.

"I don't know yet. I might just buy a bag of sweets and head in since it's a bit chilly today", she said smoothly. "I would have went with Lucy to the Three Broomsticks, but it seems as if she has other plans."

Lucy, who wasn't paying much attention to their conversation looked at Sergey and Brielle at the mention of her name. "Lucy what?", she asked.

Brielle laughed. "I figured that you might have plans today, since you've been all over that bloke all week. Maximus, right? Or is it Maxi to you?"

She and Sergey smirked as Lucy absentmindedly rubbed a certain spot on her neck. Brielle was positive that if she raised her wand and used a counter spell, a love bite would appear.

"Bugger off, would you?", Lucy said, frowning. "He just asked me out for a butterbeer. We're not shagging or anything."

"When did she ever say you were?", asked Sergey in an innocent tone. "But just in case, make sure he casts a contraceptive spell. We can't have any Max juniors crawling around Hogwarts with that squib lurking about, can we?"

"You guys are such prats", Lucy said, putting her head into her hands as they began to laugh even more than before.

After Brielle and Sergey had their fun with Lucy and finished breakfast, all of the third years and above sans the ones with detention headed towards the main entrance of the school. Filch was standing by the doors as usual to make sure nobody would try to smuggle any prohibited objects and substances in or out of the castle. Although Zonko's didn't carry as wide of a variety of magical pranking products as the Weasley twins' joke shop in Diagon Alley, he would have a field day due to all of the naive third years poorly attempting to sneak banned goods into Hogwarts.

By the time she passed through 'security' and reached the freshly trimmed grounds of the castle, Lucy had already gone off with her boy toy and Sergey waved to her before heading up the path with a few Slytherin Quidditch players. Brielle didn't see Blaise anywhere, so she could only assume that he went to enjoy the rest of the day before the meeting with the Dark Lord.

She sighed and headed for the main street to see if there was anything she could do to kill some time. Brielle could have just waited at school, but she craved the fresh air and freedom of the quaint wizarding village

As she entered Honeyduke's, the warm caramel and chocolate fudge nostalgia immediately hit her. There were a good amount of students in the shop, but not as much as there usually was. Most people preferred to spend their galleons on Zonko's novelties as opposed to the traditional chocolate frogs and Every Flavour Beans. Nevertheless, the old shopkeeps, the Flumes, still maintained the genial air of the store despite the decline in business.

Brielle busied herself by looking through the extended bins brimming with various types of Fizzing Whizzbees, since her younger brother may have liked to try one. He was only six, but his sweet tooth could have rivaled Dumbledore's. After she chose three and paid at the counter, she heard a commotion coming from outside. Brielle rushed out onto the main road to see what was going on.

In front of the Three Broomsticks, dozens of people were huddled around something. A few girls were screaming, and Brielle felt herself growing increasingly worried by the second. She practically ran over to the gathering and stood on her toes to see what happened.

In the center was Katie Bell, a Gryffindor seventh year. Her limbs were bent into excruciating positions and a rapidly growing pool of blood surrounded her chest. The damage was far beyond what any of Zonko's products were capable of doing, so it was quite obvious that pure malice was the motive of whoever targeted her. The crowd was forced to split as Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey rushed towards the mangled girl. The matron of Hogwarts levitated Katie and used some type of concealment charm so other students who hadn't seen her wouldn't panic.

McGonagall cast an Amplifying Charm on herself so she could be heard throughout every corner of the tiny village. "Attention! All Hogwarts students must report to the castle at once", she said. The slight shakiness in her voice sounded like a foreign tongue to Brielle. McGonagall had never displayed even the slightest sliver of fear before, at least not in front of any students.

Adrenaline began to pump through Brielle's veins, too. If everyone had to go back to Hogwarts, there was no way that she'd be able to attend the meeting. For a split second she wondered if the Dark Lord would understand their absences since she had a sinking feeling he had a hand in Katie's injuries, but she chided herself for thinking the Dark Lord knew what understanding and forgiveness meant.

Still, she felt her trainers following the rest of the spooked students towards the path that led to school. Most of the people who had seen Katie were already far ahead of her. Part of her wanted to stop, but she felt as if she didn't have any other options. Snape knew about their predicament, but it would be impossible for him to cover the absence of four Slytherin students from McGonagall and Dumbledore.

Suddenly, a hand reached out from the alley next to Madam Puddifoot's and yanked her in. A stinging shock ran up her upper arm from the unexpected jerk. Brielle began to yelp in pain, but abruptly stopped midway as she saw who pulled her in.

Astoria.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?", the fourth year hissed. Her cheeks and the tip of her nose were pink, but Brielle wasn't sure if it was because of the wind or the fact that Astoria was breathing quite heavily.

"Katie Bell...we're supposed to go back to Hogwarts", Brielle slowly said.

"Follow me", Astoria quickly said, brushing off her pathetic explanation. She began to walk deeper into the alleyway, and Brielle hesitated for a few moments before following her. Her own death didn't seem appealing.

They reached a dented metal door, where Astoria knocked four times. After half a minute or so, the door swung open. The second they stepped into the dimly lit room, the door shut and Astoria shrieked as someone jumped out of the shadows and tackled her to the ground.

Brielle instantly recognized him to be Blaise, clad in the grey trousers and buttoned shirt she saw him in at breakfast.

"Which of my friends said what to you before our opening Quidditch match of your first year?", Blaise asked in a steely voice. He kneeled over Astoria, with one hand on her neck and another pointing his wand at her in a threatening manner. Brielle would have dragged him off of her, but she was frozen with surprise.

"It was Marcus Flint, and he told me that Daphne was the prettier Greengrass sister", Astoria said with a glare.

Blaise stared at her for a few seconds before standing up and extending his arm out to her. Astoria took it and allowed him to pull her off the dusty wooden floor.

"I had to make sure it was actually you", Blaise explained.

He turned to Brielle, who immediately put her hands up and began to back away from him. Although the naive part of her wouldn't have minded being pinned down by Blaise Zabini after what happened between them last week, more important matters were at hand.

"Relax, Zabini. I've already checked her", Astoria said, gently pushing him back. "Where's Malfoy?"

"Malfoy is here, too?", Brielle asked, still on edge. She relaxed a bit when Blaise lowered his wand, but she wondered why Astoria had lied to him about questioning her. She could have been an imposter for all Astoria knew.

"He's in the back room", Blaise said. They shuffled towards the other room which consisted of a dingy area rug and several water-damaged wooden chairs. Draco was sitting in the one propped up against the peeling floral wallpaper. His face was sickeningly pallid, unlike his usual Malfoy paleness. He barely looked up as they entered.

"Snape found me during the whole Bell incident and told me he'd meet us all here thirty minutes to three to escort us to the Dark Lord", Blaise said. He sat improperly in one of the chairs, straddling it so his legs were on either side of the seat.

"Do any of you know what actually happened to her?", Brielle asked. She did note that Katie had sustained numerous injuries, but had no clue about what or who attacked her.

Astoria was about to answer, but Draco cut her off. "I... I just meant to cast an Imperius on her, but I couldn't concentrate hard enough. I almost killed her", he said, looking down at the rug.

Brielle's blood ran cold. She always knew that Draco's mission included very sinister things, but she couldn't believe the Dark Lord commanded a fifteen year old to use an Unforgivable. The level of nefariousness required for any of the three to work properly had to be higher than that achievable by someone who wasn't even of age yet. What if the Dark Lord made them all use Unforgivables on people? The notion scared her senseless.

"Why are you looking at me like that?", Draco snapped. "What? You thought all he wanted us for was to gather around a cozy little fire and have a bloody conversation every once in a while? Within a few months' time, all of you will finally know what I've been going through. Here's a tip though- Snape brews a top class Sleeping Draught, so talk to him if you grow tired of hearing tortured muggles in your head at night."

The freezing room was deathly quiet for a very long time after Draco's outburst, except for Blaise irregularly tapping his wand on his thigh and Astoria letting out a sniffle every now and then. Brielle truly felt sorry for her. At barely fourteen, she should have been giggling with her friends over the latest edition of Witch Weekly instead of being subjected to the trauma of serving the Dark Lord as a young teenager.

Unfortunately, nothing could be done for any of them.

**A/N: Hope you liked this chapter. Reviews help me out a ton.**

**Thanks for reading,**

**~Bretzeln**


	6. Chapter 6

His Inner Circle: Chapter Six

As promised, Professor Snape met the four students in the musty flat at exactly thirty minutes to three. Brielle felt her anxiety come back as she remembered Draco's words from before. Again, she hoped that the Dark Lord didn't plan on assigning her the task of harming defenseless muggles. The thought of it made her stomach churn.

"I assume you all know how to act in his presence", Snape asked in his demeaning tone as they all stepped outside. Although it was suffocating in the flat, it had gotten colder outside. Brielle wrapped her arms around her middle as they walked away from the main road, in the opposite direction of Hogwarts.

"Look down unless he asks you a direct question, always answer promptly, address him as 'my Lord', agree with everything he says, and take whatever punishment he sees fit, if any", Blaise recited as if he had memorized it from a book.

"Even you, Greengrass", Snape said as they took a left turn down one of the lesser traveled paths. "No tears."

"Yes, Professor", Astoria curtly replied. Brielle didn't blame her. If Snape was already pointing her out as being weak, who knew what the Dark Lord's opinion was? Yet, he wouldn't have selected her unless he saw some kind of potential.

Professor Snape stopped in front of a small, isolated cottage. The swaying daisies planted in front had begun to wilt at the edges, and there was a single tree on the front lawn.

"I will meet you out here when the meeting is over", he said before disapparating with a loud crack. They all stood in front of the house for a while. Not even Draco volunteered to lead the way up the brown brick walkway. After a few moments, Brielle swallowed thickly and gathered what little courage she had to begin walking to the doorstep. She went to knock, but the door creaked open before her fist could make contact with the wood.

An old, hunched house elf hobbled into the foyer of the house. Its hairy ears perked up as its glassy eyes looked over the Slytherins.

"Rinky welcomes the noble houses of Malfoy, Greengrass, Murphy and Zabini", it said in a scratchy voice. "Follows Rinky to my master."

They followed Rinky through the house. Brielle looked at the decor hanging on the walls and noted a few framed magical photographs of an elderly couple she assumed lived in the house before the Dark Lord moved in. She refrained from imagining where they currently were.

When they reached the parlour, her eyes instantly shifted to the red carpet. Brielle was glad she didn't see his scaly flesh and beastly eyes, but the distant atmosphere of the room told her he was seated in the tall chair at the front. She curtsied along with Astoria while the boys took a deep bow.

"Ah, right on time. I must remember to praise Severus for precisely obeying my orders", the Dark Lord said. Brielle heard him rise from his seat, and she began to tense up as he approached them.

"Severus is one of my most loyal followers, one I take deep pride in. He never fails me, unlike one of you standing before me."

She knew he was referring to Draco's Imperius mishap, especially since he was standing right in front of the blond. Brielle felt her knees shaking. She bit the inside of her cheek and willed herself not to collapse. Fear and an empty stomach didn't mix very well.

"Draco, I gave you this task in order to give your family a chance at redeeming themselves after your father embarrassed himself at the Department of Mysteries. Explain to me why you were unable to cast an Imperious on Katie Bell today, even though we practiced numerous times", the Dark Lord slowly said.

Before Draco could even get a defensive syllable out, he crumpled to the ground and began to violently thrash, as if he was having a seizure. It was only when he began to scream in agony when Brielle realized the Dark Lord had used a nonverbal Cruciatus Curse on him. Thankfully, she'd never been on the receiving end of such a curse, but Brielle heard of several accounts of the consuming, excruciating pain it caused. She helplessly stared at Draco, mentally begging the Dark Lord to lower his wand.

After just fifteen seconds, or what probably felt like a decade to Draco, the curse was lifted. His forehead was dripping with sweat, and she could see the quivers in his neck. The aftershocks prevented him from standing on his own, so Draco used a nearby bookshelf to pull himself up onto his weak legs. His heavy breathing was the only sound in the room.

"Although I am quite disappointed in you, I shall spare your life because of how prestigious of a student you proved to be during our private lessons with your aunt", he slowly said. Brielle forced herself to not think about what those lessons with Bellatrix entailed.

"Th...Thank you, my Lord", Draco stuttered. "I will never fail you again."

"Now that you three have seen what happens to my followers when I am unsatisfied with their actions, I believe it is time to discuss what I plan on using you for this year", the Dark Lord said. He conjured four chairs in front of them, and gestured for them to sit. Brielle quickly sat down in hers.

"As you know", he said while pacing back and forth, "The widespread acceptance of muggles, mudbloods and blood traitors has become a plague, slowly poisoning Wizarding Britain. I, along with your parents and my followers simply cannot allow this to be."

Brielle continued to bite her cheek, nearly drawing blood. She'd heard this speech in different versions from her parents since she had been able to speak but hearing it from the darkest wizard of all time made it seem like new information.

"My Death Eaters are not a terroristic group, as the Ministry and the Daily Prophet has falsely led many people to believe. Rather, we are a powerful organization consisting of Purebloods with the goal of preserving our sacred race and protecting our values and culture from the impurities found in inferior peoples."

He sat back down in his chair. "Our youth is where this strong foundation of beliefs must begin, which is why I have called on you four to become my model servants. Your first major misson? To assist Draco in killing Albus Dumbledore. After he is out of the picture it all becomes much simpler. The Vanishing Cabinet is being repaired, so the Death Eaters will internally invade Hogwarts and capture the Potter boy."

Brielle was already aware of the fact that Death Eaters would attack Hogwarts, but she never thought about what would happen to the old headmaster. She would have to play a part in his death now, and she truly didn't know how to feel about it.

"If my plan goes smoothly, which it should, I will induct you all into my inner circle by bestowing you with my coveted Dark Mark. If not, my precious Nagini will certainly enjoy her four-course meal."

The Dark Lord's serpent hissed, and Brielle involuntarily shuddered. She absolutely hated all types of snakes, especially his personal pet. There was something about its beady eyes that told her that it didn't like Brielle very much.

"Is there an issue, Murphy?", he asked expectantly.

Brielle's eyes snapped up and stared into his soulless pits. His face seemed quite passive, which definitely wasn't a good sign. "No, my Lord", she immediately responded, a bit too quickly. "It's just a little chilly in here."

He rose from his chair and slowly crossed the room. Her eyes widened as one of his reptilian hands rapidly reached out and tightly gripped her jaw, forcing her to look at him. His claw-like nails dug into both of her cheeks. She swore that if he squeezed a little tighter her jaw would shatter.

"One would think as a Slytherin student, you'd be used to the cold", he hissed at her. "Or are you lying to me?"

Brielle struggled to put together a coherent sentence. She hadn't meant to lie, but it slipped out. "My apologies, my Lord. It's just that I have a phobia of snakes."

He smirked, digging his nails deeper into her skin. She would have red marks if not lacerations by the time he let go. "How ironic is that? Fortunately, my dear Nagini loves a good chase. If you attempt to lie to me again, you will see what I mean."

His hold on her jaw prevented her from nodding. "Of course, my Lord", she simply said. Brielle should have added something about never lying to him ever again, but she was scared out of her wits.

The Dark Lord finally released her and Brielle refrained from rubbing the throbbing parts of her face where his nails previously rested. Like Blaise said earlier, it was unwise to show weakness in front of him.

"I believe that is all for now", he said, turning away from the Slytherins. "As I said, you must all assist in eliminating Dumbledore. Since Draco managed to soil his family name once again, I doubt there will be another Hogsmeade trip for quite a long time. Therefore, Severus will bring you on the third Friday evening of each month for a progress report. You are all dismissed."

He snapped his long fingers. Rinky appeared and bowed low to the carpet. "I is showing the noble guests out?", it asked. The Dark Lord slightly sneered and waved his hand towards the door. Rinky quickly rose and stumbled towards the door. Blaise lead the way this time, followed by Astoria, Brielle and a limping Draco. She would have at least offered him a hand but it was almost a punishable offense to show compassion to someone who displeased the Dark Lord.

Snape was waiting for them outside. The sun was beginning to set and the icy wind from before had come back. As they began the trek back towards the castle, Blaise tapped her shoulder. She turned her head, and he lifted his wand and cast a simple healing charm on her face. The throbbing that she forgot about slowly faded, and Brielle felt around her chin and noted the shallow nail marks had disappeared.

"Thanks", she said as they stepped over an uneven patch of cobblestone. "But I was planning on doing it myself when we got onto the grounds."

Blaise shrugged and began to twirl his wand between his fingers. "Better to do it now lest anybody sees."

As they approached Hogwarts, Snape led them towards the back of the castle, presumably to a secret entrance. He tapped his wand against a grid of ivy crawling up the stone and it melted into the wall to reveal a door.

"This will take us into one of the vacant corridors", he explained in his bored voice. "If anybody asks, I detained the four of you for wandering about instead of attending Dumbledore's emergency announcement in the afternoon."

They took turns stepping through the narrow door and into the hallway. Brielle noticed that Snape immediately disappeared up one of the moving staircases instead of following the students towards the dungeons, where his quarters were.

"I wonder how Bell's doing", Astoria whispered to her, probably so Draco wouldn't hear and blow up on them again.

Brielle shrugged as they approached the common room. "She looked horrible, so she'll probably be in the hospital wing for a few weeks if her parents don't want to withdraw her. The wing'll be full of Gryffinfors during visiting hours so it's not a good idea to go."

Astoria nodded wistfully. Draco muttered the password, and the portrait swung open. All the conversation in the room died off as the four students entered. Brielle picked out Lucy and Sergey sitting on one of the couches, staring at them.

"And where were you lot?", Adrian asked. He stood up from the arm of the couch by the fire.

"If you must know, Pucey, we had detention with Snape", said Brielle. She wasn't going to allow Adrian Pucey, of all people, to intimidate her.

"Come of it, Murphy. Snape never hands out afternoon detentions, especially not to his own house", Daphne said with her nose high in the air. Sounds of agreement flowed through the room.

"I'm out of here", Draco muttered. He walked up the stairs to the dorms, leaving the three others to deal with the interrogation. Brielle didn't feel the need to explain to Daphne and the rest, so she followed him. She ignored the two other sixth years there and drew the dark green curtains around her four poster. If they were going to have their entire house on their backs for the entire year, it wouldn't be easy to balance school and the Dark Lord at all. If she told Snape he might have done something to throw people off, but three sixth years, a fourth year and a professor versus a brigade of Slytherins would be a tough competition.

Brielle held her head in her hands, hoping that the entire situation would blow over by morning.

**A/N: I know this is a day or two late but I've had some family events lately taking up my time. Hope you liked it!**

**Thanks,**

**~Bretzeln**


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